With the Christmas season upon us, I would like to ask the citizens of South Carolina to consider giving themselves a gift with some lasting value. Unlike a purchased gift from a retailer, this gift is free. It is the gift of your right to vote.

On Jan. 19, South Carolina will hold primary elections. I urge all citizens of South Carolina to consider Ron Paul as your choice for nominee in the Republican Primary.

The intent of those wanting to start a no kill animal shelter, and your endorsement of the idea, is admirable but misguided.

As one having been involved with owning, breeding and showing dogs for over 54 years, I have seen this type of activity in many places and in each case it turns into a disaster after a while.

They, and the newspaper, speak of the more than 4,200 animals put to sleep at the shelter in a year. And they, and the newspaper, want these animals kept alive indefinitely, or until someone adopts them.

Bob Hunter, Krista Moore and B.J. Mishoe must be rich or foolish to start a separate shelter for unwanted animals. Have they considered the cost of a building, feed, medication, spay and neuter fees and employees to take care of 5,146 or more animals a year if the animals are not spayed or neutered?

To spay or neuter an animal costs between $60 and $100.

Do they plan to keep the animals in pens their entire life if not adopted?

After 25 years I decided I needed a new winter bath robe. That sounds like an easy task. The bath robes looked like cotton balls at the first store I visited. When I questioned why the robes weren’t pretty, the salesman said the robes were “practical and warm and no one would see you in it anyway.” Well, I didn’t want my neighbors to see me in a huge cotton ball walking to my paper box.

You can’t say there is nothing to do in Lancaster. Not if you take a look at the events calendar for December on the front of Wednesday’s feature section.

The activities available run the gamut – from Santa train rides to a winter wonderland in Heath Springs, caroling and candle lighting in the Van Wyck community, Christmas parades to home tours and a Christmas concert by the highly talented Lancaster Chamber Choir.

Fashion designer Luis Machicao will be showing some of his latest designs at the Celebration of Art at Bob Doster’s Studio.

To experience unconditional love, get a pet. He or she doesn’t care if you wear designer clothes, what kind of vehicle you drive or the kind of house you live in.

They accept you for who you are. They are faithful companions and friends. They don’t judge and they don’t hold grudges.

But last year in Lancaster County, 4,250 weren’t given a chance to become a pet. That was the number euthanized at the Lancaster County Animal Shelter because there was no place in the county to hold them until they could be adopted.

If you question our involvement in Iraq, consider the following reasons why we are there. It seems that some people are against our involvement based on their dislike for our president. I also believe some people don’t understand what is at stake. I do not blindly support everything our president does, but I do support our involvement in Iraq.

I’m Bill Hegler, brother of Jimmy “Whitey” Hegler who was buried in Lancaster Nov. 21. I was born in Lancaster in 1934 and after my discharge from the U.S. Navy only lived there a couple of years before moving away and returning only occasionally to visit relatives.

I am writing in response to Nov. 18 article “State ranked among top 5 states for hunger” in The Lancaster News. I have lived in Lancaster County for 18 years and I just recently saw in the same paper that Heath Springs got $200,000 for a new sidewalk. Kershaw and Lancaster both have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars each on redoing their sidewalks and trying to improve the looks of downtown. How much do we spend on feeding hungry children and old folks? Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on things we want doesn’t seem right when there are people hungry.

It’s hard to fathom that here in the United States – the land of plenty – that anyone could go hungry. But they do. And a recent federal study shows that South Carolina ranks in the top five states for hunger.

An average of 15 percent of South Carolinians endured a “food insecurity” between 2004-06, according to the study. That includes people in Lancaster County.

I cannot believe that it has taken almost a year of unheeded citizens’ complaints, negative media coverage and governmental bureaucracy to accomplish nothing.

Lancaster County Council listened to and then took absolutely no action concerning the continuing noise, air and light pollution caused by the redi-mix cement plants in the Perimeter 521 Industrial Park for the residents adjacent to these facilities.

On Nov. 16, my pocketbook was stolen from me in K-Beauty Hair Product Store. I had all my identification in there. I also had my mother, brother and deceased grandmother’s identification in there. I had cash and a camera which contained pictures of my grandmother lying in her casket at the funeral home.

To the thief or thieves, God will intervene with you. There is a saying that goes “you will reap what you sow.”

While I’m mourning the death of my grandmother, you took something of sentimental value from me.

Last week, an article in The Lancaster News reported an event and provided a picture of me with a flag presented by the Andrew Jackson High School JROTC. There was also a brief story. I thank you for the article and would like to provide the rest of the story.

Questions have recently arisen regarding vehicle stops in the Indian Land area. I would like to explain the rationale for these stops.

As most residents are aware, Lancaster County has begun an initiative to locate residents who are not properly paying South Carolina taxes on property subject to such taxation. One of our first efforts involves vehicles that are not properly taxed.